As I Fall
by Nimanesu
Summary: You must protect this jewel with your life, alright? It's very important that you understand that. No matter what happens, you must never let anybody take it from you. If you do...many people will die. You will die. NarutoOC


A/N This is a Naruto/OC story. The second and third chapter (which I'll be posting periodically over the next few days) are a little rough...but then things should pick up after that. The chapters will be relatively short, 1400 to 2000/2300 words each chapter (excluding this first, prologue-ish chapter), but then I'm planning on 60+ chapters, too...somewhere around there. Maybe/probably more, it depends. Anyway, I hope you like it! Flames welcome, Orochimama eats them for breakfast. D

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_"Take it easy, 'Tsu," a boy with dark hair placed a hand on the shoulder of a girl who looked only a few years younger than he was. "What are you doing out here so late at night?"_

_"Training...I need to get stronger! I have to get strong to protect my precious people and the family heirloom!" She turned so that her dark, teal eyes were looking up into his emerald green ones. "That's what daddy told me to do before he died..."_

_She looked down to her feet sadly for a moment, before looking back up with a serious expression on her face – which, in reality, didn't look all that serious on her small, seven-year-old face._

_"But since you're so hot, I'll get strong so I can protect you too, Shin-senpai!"_

_Said boy, Shin, blinked several times, the small blush on his cheeks hidden by the increasing darkness. He didn't speak right away, so the girl spoke again._

_"Shin-senpai?"_

_"...Tsunaki Nimanesu, since when have you been a pervert?"_

Tsunaki smiled slightly, a small ray of sunlight illuminating her face as she lay on her bed with her hands behind her head. She hadn't really looked back on memories like this for awhile. The one she had just recalled was one of her earlier memories from when she had first enrolled in the academy.

The boy, Shin, had been her Chunin teacher's Genin assistant at the time. Now, he being 15 and she 12, their relationship had become one of teacher and student. In the past 5 years, he had continued up the ranks to the rank of Jounin, while she had become a Genin.

She had been more than a little surprised when she had gotten together with the recently formed Team 3, only to find that her long-time friend was her Jounin sensei. Of course, she had no complaints with this arrangement at the time, and still didn't. She felt lucky; at least she hadn't been put on the team with the weird guy with a bowl cut, like one of her classmates, TenTen.

In fact, she felt quite content with the team she had been placed on. Shin, and her two teammates Rika and Hiro, had become like a second family to her. Though, admittedly, they hadn't gotten along too well to begin with.

_"Okay. My name's Shin Kamichi, and I'm going to be your new sensei. I've got something else to do right now, so all three of you just need to...get to know each other...or something. I'll be back in an hour." With a single hand seal, he disappeared in a poof of smoke._

_"He seems really interested in being our sensei, doesn't he?" Rika, your female team mate, muttered to herself dryly, eying the place where Shin had once been standing. "He seems somewhat incompetent to me."_

_Tsunaki turned to her sharply. "And what right do you have to judge him like that? Shin-sensei is more competent than you'll ever be! He's strong, intelligent, responsible..." Her eyes clouded over, and a smile spread across her face. "...and the hottest person in all of Konoha. Maybe even the Fire Country, too."_

_"Hey, hey!" Hiro jumped from his seat and struck a pose, flashing both females a goofy grin. "You think I'm hot and sexy too, right? Right?"_

_"...No." Rika and Tsunaki replied at once, bringing a frown to Hiro's face._

_"Ch, fine! It's not like I care what you two think, anyway!" He pointed an accusing finger at Rika. "You! You're ugly!" He turned to point at Tsunaki, ignoring Rika, whose face was becoming steadily darker and whose eyebrow was twitching. "And you! You're flat-chested!"_

_"**What** did you say?"_

_"Care to repeat that?"_

_Hiro's eyes widened and he started to back up slowly, finally aware of just how much trouble he was in for insulting his two female team mates._

_"H-hey guys, wait now... I was just kidding!" He waved his hands around in front of him. "I didn't mean any of that, it was just a joke! Haha..."_

**55 Minutes Later**

_"How in the world did you three manage to get into this situation?" Shin sighed, staring down at his three new students. All of which, notably, were sporting either a black eye or broken nose, and countless bruises and scratches._

_"Ib's nod our fauld you were stubed enub to leab us alone libe dis!" Hiro contributed loudly, pinching the bridge of his bleeding nose (which was the cause for his odd speaking). "You- Ow, ow, ow! Tsunabi, stob hidding me!" **1**_

_"You guys – wait, no! Tsunaki, stop hitting Hiro, you're going to kill him! And Rika – why are you even strangling Tsunaki? You guys! Stop! Stooooop..." _

Eventually, the three had started to get along. Looking back, it seemed a little funny to Tsunaki now, how the littlest of things could get them fighting. It was over absolutely nothing, usually. From time to time, the three would bicker, but it was usually was just kidding, more than anything. Nothing serious. She sort of missed the playful bickering they had done.

_"Hey, Tsu', hand me my water bottle," Hiro panted, weakly lifting his head to make eye contact with Tsunaki. He was bent over with his hands on his knees for support, and sweat dripped off of his body._

_Tsunaki, who was in the same condition herself, only sprawled across the ground, patted the grass around her blindly, searching for Hiro's water bottle. When she found it, she picked it up and tossed it over to her team mate._

_"This is torture," Rika, who was sitting up against the trunk of a tree, breathing heavily with her eyes closed. Her hair, which was loose from her usual pony-tail, was plastered to her face and neck from sweat. "Pure, and utter torture."_

_"Hey, you guys are the ones who said you wanted to train extra hard for the upcoming Chunin exams," Shin, who had been watching his students with an amused grin on his face, defended himself. "And since you three already trained like crazy, you should have expected something like this." _

Tsunaki sighed.

"_Rika, Hiro... I'm so sorry..._"

She absent-absentmindedly wiped away at the tears in her eyes, the bandaging around her left pinky brushing against her face. A knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts, though, and she called out, "Yeah?"

"Are you ready?" a voice she recognized as her mother's said through the door.

" _I should have been there for you, at that time..._ "

"Almost," was her reply. She sat up, the springs in her bed creaking from the sudden change of weight on them.

"Okay. Make sure to wear something appropriate for the funeral, honey."

" _I miss you guys so much already..._"

**1** What he's saying, if you can't guess: "It's not our fault you were stupid enough to leave us alone like this!" and "You – Ow, ow, ow! Tsunaki, stop hitting me!"


End file.
